Elastomeric gloves, such as surgical and examination gloves, have traditionally been made of natural or synthetic elastomers to provide a combination of good elasticity and strength. Due to their tight fit over the hand, however, elastomeric gloves are often difficult to don. To overcome this problem, powdered lubricants were traditionally applied to the inside surface of the glove to reduce friction between the skin and the elastomer. As an example, epichlorohydrin-treated maize crosslinked starch was a common powder applied to the inside of elastomeric gloves during manufacture to permit them to be more readily slipped onto the hand of the user.
Unfortunately, the use of powdered lubricants has drawbacks in specific situations, such as the case of surgical gloves. Specifically, if some of the powder escapes from the inside of the glove into the surgical environment, as for example if the glove is torn during the surgery, the powder may enter the surgical wound and cause further complications for the patient. The powder may also carry infectious agents and/or cause allergenic reactions in the patient.
As a result, various other techniques were developed to aid in the donnability of elastomeric gloves. For example, the surface of natural rubber latex gloves has been chlorinated to reduce friction between the wearer-contacting surface and a user's skin when donned. Moreover, other techniques have also been developed to enhance the lubricity of a glove's inner surface. One such technique is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,792,531 to Littleton, et al. For instance, in one example, Littleton, et al. describes forming a donning layer on an S-EB-S glove from an S-I-S mid-block unsaturated block copolymer, chlorinating the resulting glove in a washing machine, and then applying a lubricant to the wearer-contacting surface of the glove that contains cetyl pyridinium chloride and a silicone emulsion (DC 365 from Dow Corning). Another technique is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,008,125 to Ansell, et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,272,771 to Ansell, et al. For example, the Ansell, et al. patents describe a glove modified by an ionic polyurethane that allows donning without the use of powders and renders the glove hypoallergenic. In addition, still another technique is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,347,408 to Yeh. For instance, Yeh describes a glove having an inner coating formed of a crosslinked polyurethane that has been impregnated with a silicone, which is said to provide an improvement over gloves coated on their inner surface with a non-crosslinked polyurethane.
Although conventional techniques, such as described above, have resulted in some improvement in the donning characteristics of elastomeric gloves, a need still exists for an elastomeric glove that is able to achieve excellent damp and dry donning characteristics.